by Anson Lam | Aug 12, 2015 | Daily paper summaries
By combining galaxy formation histories and planet formation models, we can estimate the number of potential civilizations in our Universe.
by Gudmundur Stefansson | Aug 5, 2015 | Daily paper summaries
Do you own a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera? The authors of today’s paper do. They used it for astronomy. They used it for science.
by Meredith Rawls | Aug 4, 2015 | Daily paper summaries
This variable white dwarf pulsates as expected, but it also experiences very bright outbursts. Today’s paper takes us through the discovery and verification of the second pulsating white dwarf with outbursts, and speculates how the pulsations and outbursts may be linked.
by David Wilson | Aug 3, 2015 | Daily paper summaries
Last month Nasa announced, in what seems like a roughly annual event, the discovery of “Earth 2.0″. Described as a “Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth”, Kepler 452b is the first small planet (defined here as less than twice the radius of the Earth) to be in a roughly one year orbit around a Sun-like star.
But is it otherwise that similar to the Earth? Is it potentially habitable? To try and answer that, let’s look at the discovery paper.
by Stacy Kim | Jul 2, 2015 | Daily paper summaries
Why do some planets slightly more massive than Earth have gas envelopes, while others don’t?
by Gudmundur Stefansson | May 18, 2015 | Daily paper summaries
The exoplanet hunt is on. The stakes are high. What will our next-generation telescopes find?